Bahrain traders report brisk business

Manama, March 20, 2011

Traders reported brisk business yesterday as life continued to return to normal across Bahrain.

Large parts of Manama, Gudaibya, Hoora, Adliya and Exhibition Road presented a near normal look with thousands of people out on the streets and going about their daily business.

In Bab Al Bahrain almost all shops opened early in keeping with the shortened business hours due to the 8pm curfew from the financial district to the Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa Causeway.

'This is a good sign,' said one electronic store owner, who managed to sell half a dozen fans in a few hours.

'We hope business will pick up soon because we cannot afford to go on like this for long.

'However, there is still some tension and anxiety in the evening when there are very few people outside.'

An Exhibition Road cold store owner said it was also business as normal.

'I had to close throughout the day on only one day,' he said.

'The rest of the days have been very normal.'

However, Budaiya Highway, starting from the Ghufool traffic signals, presented a different look with most businesses shut and streets deserted.

The road was also still littered with trash, stones, building blocks and rubbish bins, making it difficult to drive.

Several checkpoints by security forces were operating, with traffic crawling through them.

It was the same situation on the road passing through Sehla, Khamis and Tashan, where most businesses were shut and roads littered with debris.

'This is not a good sign,' said one cold store owner.

'We are not having much trouble now but we are tense. We are losing a lot of business.'

A furniture shop owner in Manama said some residents in the area were still wary of potential attacks on them.

'There is visible tension but I believe it will be all right in a few days,' he said.

Trash collection in these areas, which had been suspended over the last few days, was also picking up, but trash bins at several parts of the Manama Suq, Adliya, Gudaibya, Hoora and along the Budaiya Highway were still piling up.-TradeArabia News Service